Mr. Kamegai's son was supposed to take over the museum, but he died suddenly two years ago.
But as new people, many of them Fort Worth socialites, took over the museum, Mrs. Formby's role declined.
When he took over the museum in early 2000, at the request of the Russian minister of construction, a close friend, it seemed like a lost cause.
Ms. Phillips is the fourth top curator to resign from the Whitney since Maxwell L. Anderson took over the museum as director in September.
But by the time he took over, the museum had a $2.2 million deficit and was on the verge of collapse.
Mr. Kittelmann, a dapper, theatrical 45-year-old who took over the museum 18 months ago, is out to redefine the very concept of a museum.
The show is another sign of the Hirshhorn's quiet rejuvenation under Richard Koshalek, the former director of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles who took over the museum in Washington in 2009.
One of China's best known and most globally celebrated artists, Cai was about to take over the museum for a retrospective of his drawings, sculptures, videos, paintings, installations, and signature gunpowder drawings.
Thomas P. Campbell, the Met's director, said that upon taking over the museum last year one of the first places he visited was the special conservation area that has been created for the Tullio project. 1 2 Next Page ».
By the time he formally takes over the museum on June 1, he said, he will have ceased all of his commercial activities and will have closed his gallery.
